Ukraine said on Tuesday that its forces had repelled Russian attacks on a road near the eastern town of Bakhmut, preventing Moscow from controlling an important Ukrainian supply line.
Military spokesman Sergei Cherivati said in a televised address that Russian troops were unable to cut off the road leading from the town of Chasov Yar to Bakhmut.
He added: “The Russian forces were unable to block the road along which the supplies of the Ukrainian armed forces were going. The Ukrainian army in Bakhmut is equipped with everything necessary.”
He added that Bakhmut remains one of the main areas for Russian attacks, including artillery and infantry.
Ukrainian forces, the Russian army and the Russian private military group Wagner have been fighting a fierce battle of attrition in the Bakhmut area for several months now.
For its part, Russia said today that its forces have taken control of the village of Blagodatnoye, north of Bakhmut, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the war in recent weeks.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it took Blagodatny, about 5 kilometers north of Bakhmut, with air support.
The Wagner group had already announced on Saturday that its units had taken Blagodatny, but Kyiv said it had repulsed the attack on the village.
Russia says it has taken control of several areas around Bakhmut, where its forces and elements of Wagner fought Ukrainian forces for months.
